Describe the controversy over the alien and sedition acts

The Alien and Sedition Acts were controversial because of how blatantly political they were.

In short, the Alien and Sedition Acts targeted the friends of, allies of, and the Democratic-Republicans themselves.

They were instituted after the XYZ affair by the Federalist party under John Adams and were instantly use to silence dissent.

its many islands, high mountains, and remote peninsulas isolated population centers.